2018 in-season testing recap: summary of F1 testing in Hungary

Mercedes’ George Russell set the track record at the Hungaroring in the final day of Formula 1 testing on Wednesday, ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen by 0.074sec Russell, 20, set a time of 1min 15.575sec on Wednesday afternoon on hypersoft tyres, beating Ferrari junior Antonio Giovinazzi’s table-topping time of 1min 15.648 – the benchmark on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Italian racing driver completed 96 laps on day one of testing, finishing a full 2.5sec ahead of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson. In comparison, Sebastian Vettel set a time of 1min 16.170sec on ultrasoft tyres in the third practice session of the Hungarian Grand Prix; Giovinazzi was equipped with hypersofts.

Sean Gelael (Toro Rosso) tested the 2019 Pirelli tyre on day one and brought out the only red flag of the session, crashing the Toro Rosso STR13 at Turn 11. Rain followed, forcing teams to run on intermediates for the rest of the afternoon. Russell finished fifth on day one having completed 49 laps, with another 116 under his belt on day two. Giovinazzi swapped for a Sauber on Wednesday, completing 120 laps to finish fourth.

Red Bull simulator driver Jake Dennis finished third, behind Kimi – both completing 131 laps on Tuesday. Both Toro Rossos – Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly and – finished at the back having undertaken Pirelli test duties. Robert Kubica replaced day one driver Oliver Rowland (ninth on Tuesday) for the final day, finishing sixth overall. Williams tested the 2019-spec front wing: 200mm wider, 25mm deeper, and without complex endplates and wing components. Force India, which had Nikita Mazepin (fifth) testing on Tuesday and Nicholas Latifi (seventh) on Wednesday, also tested the new front wing, as did Rowland and Daniel Ricciardo (sixth on Wednesday) of Red Bull.

Daniel Ricciardo is still waiting on a contract extension with Red Bull. He told Autosport that he was expecting it to take place around the Belgian Grand Prix in August: “It will definitely be done by Spa. Whether it gets announced over the summer break or in Spa [I don’t know],” said Ricciardo.

Other measures in place for 2019 are wider and deeper rear wings, simplified front brake ducts without winglets, an increase in race fuel allowance and the separation of car weight from driver weight to stop heavier drivers gaining a disadvantage.

HUNGARY F1 TESTING 2018 TIMES – DAY 1

Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps	Tyre
Antonio Giovinazzi	Ferrari	1min 15.648sec		96	Hypersoft
Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1min 18.155sec	+2.507sec	95	Hypersoft
Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1min 19.251sec	+3.603sec	126	Ultrasoft
Lando Norris	McLaren	1min 19.294sec	+3.646sec	107	Ultrasoft
George Russell	Mercedes	1min 19. 781sec	+4.133sec	49	Supersoft
Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1min 19.854sec	+4.206sec	125	Ultrasoft
Nicholas Latifi	Force India	1min 19.994sec	+4.346sec	103	Soft
Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1min 20.826sec	+5.178sec	63	Medium
Oliver Rowland	Williams	1min 20.970sec	+5.322sec	65	Soft
Sean Gelael	Toro Rosso	1min 21.451sec	+5.803sec	109	2019 tyre

HUNGARY F1 TESTING 2018 TIMES – DAY 2

Driver	Team	Gap	Laps	Time	Tyre
George Russell	Mercedes		116	1min 15.575sec	Hypersoft
Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.074sec	131	1min 15.649sec	Hypersoft
Jake Dennis	Red Bull	+1.437sec	131	1min 17.012sec	Hypersoft
Antonio Giovinazzi	Sauber	+1.983sec	120	1min 17.558sec	Hypersoft
Nikita Mazepin	Force India	+2.173sec	51	1min 17.748sec	Hypersoft
Robert Kubica	Williams	+2.876sec	103	1min 18.451sec	Ultrasoft
Lando Norris	McLaren	+2.897sec	73	1min 18.472sec	Soft
Artem Markelov	Renault	+2.921sec	108	1min 18.496sec	Hypersoft
Sean Gelael	Toro Rosso	+3.471sec	122	1min 19.046sec	Hypersoft
Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+4.215sec	75	1min 19.790sec	Pirelli test
Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+4.646sec	67	1min 20.221sec	Pirelli test